Bad Dreams
by OswinInOz
Summary: A short one shot about the time Rose had a bad dream and the Doctor helped out.


They weren't always bad, the dreams. Sometimes she'd dream of happier days with the Doctor, before the dimension canon and going through the parallel universes. Like when he'd taken her to Barcelona to see the dogs with no noses. Or when her first Doctor had taken her for chips. She'd payed. But sometimes during the night, she'd dream about dimension jumping. She'd gone through Hell in back in some of the universes she'd crossed and, sometimes, those memories snuck their way into her dreams. The nightmares were easy to hide from the Doctor at first. He may be staying with her at her father's estate with her, but they were in separate rooms. It took Rose a while to except this new Doctor, and when she did, she wasn't going to hurry into a relationship with someone she barely knew. Or rather, someone she needed to get to know again. His Donna traits made him a bit different and so they needed to reacquaint themselves with each other. Then again, Rose wasn't the same person either. No longer a little shop girl, Rose Tyler had hardened into a battle scarred woman.

Then she fell in love with him, just like old times, and they'd made love. After that, they were inseparable, and loved each other unconditionally. After searching for a few days with the help of Pete Tyler, Rose and the Doctor found themselves a home of their own in the outskirts of Dundee, Scotland. They'd bought a bed that night so they had something to sleep on, planning on buying everything else the next day.

Sleeping next to the Doctor had chased the nightmares away, and Rose hadn't had one since the night they consumed their relationship. But that night, they came to her.

_In her dream, she was on a universe in which Earth was invaded by spider-like alien creatures. Knowing it wasn't her universe, Rose tried to leave, but the Dimension Cannon needed time to reboot. So she hid out in an old pub and tried to make herself as invisible as possible. Of course with her being jeopardy friendly, that really didn't work. She was sitting in the back of the pub, the dimension cannon hidden under her coat, when a rather peculiar looking man came up to her table in the back and said something to her. She had no idea what he said, however, because he was speaking a different language and she didn't have the TARDIS translator anymore. She tried to tell the individual that she couldn't understand him when, next thing she knew, he was gripping her throat. The spider-like aliens burst into the pub and pulled him off of her. She was about to thank the creature - even though it's race was holding the residents of Earth hostage - when it came after her. It's clawed feet swept her up into it's grasp and ran off with her. She thrashed and screamed and kicked but nothing seemed to slow the monster down. It then deposited her in a dungeon like area and left._

_ By now, Rose was trying everything to get the dimension cannon working. She'd been in situations like this and no matter how many times she reminded herself of that, she was still shaking with fear. She thought of the Doctor and in that moment she felt stronger. Several hours later it looked as though the dimension cannon was going to work. But just as she was sure she was going home, the alien creature was back. It was just starting to advance on her when the dimension cannon made a clicking noise, indicating it was ready to be used._

_ "Tough luck," Rose muttered, and slammed her hand against the button. But the alien was quick. It leaped after her and sunk a leg into her thigh. Apparently, the beast had mouths on each foot. She could feel it's jaws sink into her leg. And then, they were gone._

_She was back to Pete's World in a flash. Mickey was the first person to realize Rose had brought something back with her. He grabbed a gun laying on a table next to him and shot it in what he could only guess was it's head. It screamed in pain and tightened it's hold on Rose. She yelped in pain. That was Mickey's cue. He shot it several more times until purple blood flew all over the floor and it let go of Rose and flopped against the floor; dead. Mickey ran after Rose but she was too far gone to notice him. The venom of the beast was flooding through her veins. Mickey was just lucky enough to see it. "We need a medic over here!" He shouted. Several men sprung into action and made their way towards Rose._

_The venom of the creature - the people of Torchwood dubbed them Pinchers - caused powerful hallucinations of your worst nightmares. In front of Rose were several medics and her best friend Mickey, but all she saw was the Doctor soaked in blood crying out to her. Her mother was being stabbed repeatedly before her eyes, and all of the other horrors she'd faced because of the dimension cannon were suddenly before her. She cried out and covered her eyes, but the images were till there - like they were burned into her retinas. instead of seeing her Doctor, decked out in red trainers and pinstriped suit, Rose saw her metacrisis Doctor dead before her eyes. In her mind she'd decided that losing him would be worse and so her nightmare changed her memory into something more horrifying._

Meanwhile, Rose was calling out in her sleep. "Doctor," she said, "Doctor please, don't.. Don't go.." She thrashed around in bed, waking the Doctor up in the process. He was far too tired though to notice something was wrong.

_ Her dream was just starting to morph into Rose watching the Doctor die in her arms when she was snapped awake. _Her eyes opened wide and she stared at their ceiling, breathing hard. Silent tears were running down her cheeks but she didn't wipe them away. She looked over to her side and saw her Doctor lying next to her. She didn't want to wake him, bother him with these nightmares, but she was so scared she was shaking and she really needed him right now.

She sniffled loudly and moved over to him, wrapping her arms around her lover from behind and resting her chin atop his shoulder. Another tear cascaded down her cheek and hit his shoulder with a soft 'plop.' Feeling her salty tears against his skin, the Doctor shifted and rubbed his eyes vigorously. "Rose?" He called in his sleep. When a sniffle and the sound of trying to hide unwanted tears filled his ears, the Doctor sat bolt upright and looked down at the woman beside him. "Rose? Rose, are you okay?" She shook her head and buried it into his shoulder, sobbing loudly into his naked flesh. He grasped her head in one hand and held her to him, gently rocking her until the crying ceased and she fell asleep again.

That morning, Rose took of from work to spend her Friday with the Doctor. It was a nice Summer day in Dundee, the slight breeze chilling the air but still keeping it relatively warm. The ate outside and talked about things; where they were going to buy their new furniture, what color they wanted to paint their bedroom walls, and so on. While they were sitting against a tree, Rose curled into the Doctor's side and rubbing her thumb along his knuckles, he asked her about her nightmare. And she told him. So the next day they packed up some clothes, took a two week leave from Torchwood, and went on a trip to Pendennis Point, Cornwall for a nice, relaxing getaway. Away from Torchwood, away from aliens - except for himself of course - and away from Jackie Tyler; who kept insisting the two get married. And even though they'd have to get back to their real lives in a few weeks time, it was nice to pretend that everything in their life was easy.

After spending hours talking to the Doctor and using their telepathic connection, the Doctor was able to rid Rose of the nasty dreams that had been invading her sleep. She'd slept easier then, the terrors no longer pushing their way into her soul every time she closed her eyes. But his mind tricks didn't save her while she was a wake, and every once in a while Rose would get flashbacks of what her life had been like before she'd found him again. But the Doctor would always be there, protecting the woman he loved.


End file.
